And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.

More on Genius

About “Loveliest of trees, the cherry now”

The certainty of death, the shortness of life: it exhorts us to strive to see the beauty of all around us, not just when the world is in bloom, but even when it is winter and all is covered in snow. Our pressing need makes even the dark times beautiful.

This extraordinary little miniature reminds us how to live in the world that follows upon Eve’s grasping the fruit of the tree that was “good for food and pleasant to the eyes” (Genesis 3:6).